Pyrophoric lighter



May 3, 1949. A R. L. BURCHETT PYROPHOR'IG LIGHTER Filed` Jan. 23, 194'? m W. U .hw

Patented May 3, 1949 PYROPI-IORICY LIGHTER Ray L. Burchett, East Orange, N. J., assigner to Bonson Alr't Metal Works,A

Inc?,l Newark, J

incorporation of New' Jersey Application January 23, 19517,l S`eriaf N0. 7232736 (CLl S27-4.1)

2 Claims.

lhi's invention relates to' pyrophoric lighters of the type having aremovable torch.

The Iinvention relates more particularly to :a novel form of torch and the combination therewith of other parts of the lighter engaged' thereby.- bjfects of the invention are to facilitate assembly and disassembly when desired, and t0 prevent inadvertent damage during operation of the lighter. These and lother objects, 'advantages and features of the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation, in section, showing the pertinent vparts of ya lighter embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional View taken at line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing further details -of the torch per se; and

Fig. 4 is an exploded View of the torch shown in Fig. 3.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1: a lighter case is shown as I, containing a body or tank 2 'and provided with a cover plate 3. The tank 2 comprises a cage 4 serving to hold a tubular absorbent felt wick 5 in operative position to receive 4fuel from relatively loose absorbent material such as 6, disposed within the tank 2, and transfer it to the Wick end of a removable torch. So far, the elements and larrangement is in general common to devices of the prior art. It is well known that in such devices the tubular felt or the like wick 5 is snugly engaged -interiorly by the torch wick-tip, and since these tips are secured to the torch by screw threads to provide for ready replacement, trouble has been experienced by accidental detachment of the wick-tips, due to inadvertent rotation of the torch while the tip is engaged within the wick. This often requires the entire lighter to be returned to the factory for repairs. I

'infaissem'bled' position; A portion of the bore .ot bushing: l, such as at Iflf,` is non-circular in cross-section', inf the' presentl embodiment square (Fig. 2)'. A torch designated int general a's f2 is provided with a shank portion., such" as I3, having,y a non-circular cross-section complementary to the sleeve bore at. II the st'em I3 thus being freely slidably movable axially of the sleeve 1 but being restrained aga-inst angular movement relative to Said sleeve 'I. Thus in the (solid line) position shown in Fig. l the torch I2 is adapted to be used las a tool or key for rotating the sleeve to screw the same inwardly in assembling or disassembling the parts, thus avoiding the need for extending the flange 8 upwardly a sufficient distance :to be engaged.

Further, when the torch is moved to its innermost (broken line) position where the torch Wick tip I4 is snugly disposed within the felt wick 5 the non-circular cooperating portions of the torch and sleeve prevent inadvertent rotation of the torch and hence obviate the accidental removal of the tip from the torch and its displacement in the lower end of the wick 5 or cage 4.

The torch I2 in its preferred form comprises a main body porti-on I5 of non-circular cross-section conforming to the cross-section of the shank portion I3 (Figs. 3 and 4) which permits the body to be made of square, or other non-circular, bar stock. One end of the body I5 is turned down or otherwise suitably provided with a dowel-pin According to this invention I have overcome this difculty and have provided other advantages and improvements by the construction and arrangement to be referred to more fully herein-after.

A sleeve l, provided with a flanged head 8 and a threaded inner end 9, is passed through :an

opening in the cover 3 with the head B engaging r the cover and the inner end in threaded engagement within a bushing I8 suitably rigidly secured t-o the tank 2 in aligned axial register with the -felt wick 5, thus providing a means for securing the tank or body 2, casing I and cover plate end I5, and the other end is provided with 'a threaded portion I I for receiving in the usual manner a wick tip I8 in which is `disposed the usual wick I4. A contact pin 20 `of heat resistant metal is securely fastened in the lower end of stem I5, as by a press -t in bore 2I, and lpasses outwardly beyond the tip I8. A cylindrical handle portion 22 is provided with a bore I6 into which the dowel pin I6 is tightly fitted to secure the parts together. The handle 22 is hollow and is provided with a screw cap 23 to provide a receptacle for holding a spare tip I8' and spare pieces of pyrophori-c metal 24, so that these spare parts will be readily available. Such construction provides for ready manufacture and permits =of a desired selection of materials suitable -for the several parts of the torch I2.

Having thus described my invention with `par-- ticularity with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, and having referred to certain modioations, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, after understanding my invention, that `other changes and modiiications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and I aim in the appended claims to cover such changes and modifications as are within the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a lpyrophoric lighter of the character described having a body providing a fuel reservoir Icontaining absorbent material adapted to receive a movable torch which has a removable wick tip engageable with said absorbent material, the cornbination with said body of a 'torch provided with a removable wick tip threadingly engaged thereon, a sleeve detachably secured to said body and providing ya passage for receiving and guiding said torch tip into proper register Within said absorbent material, said sleeve and torch being .provided with cooperating non-circular cross-sectional portions so constructed and arranged that said torch is slidably movable in an axial direction and restrained -against angular movement with respect to said absorbent material.

2. In a Dyrophoric lighter of the character described having a body portion providing ya fuel reservoir containing absorbent material adapted to receive a movable torch and also having a casing detachable from said body, the combination with said -body portion of a torch, a sleeve for receiving and aligning said torch tip into reg- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,657,585 Schlick Apr. 1, 1913 1,088,271 Ganz Feb. 24, 1914 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 408,149 Great Britain Apr. 5, 1934 445,895 France Sept. 13, 1912 478,458 Great Britain Jan. 19, 1938 

